ENGR 1620

Introduction to Engineering
Section 12
Fall 2015

Assignment 6
Preliminary Problem and Goal Statements

Team (Bioinspired) Rocket

Sean Allen, Grant Guan, Patrick Rojas, Erik Song

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On our honor, we have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this assignment.
We have not collaborated with other students, either at the University or others, in the
preparation of this report.

Sean Allen, Grant Guan, Patrick Rojas, Erik Song

Problem Statement
Big Picture Problem
Although people have been performing surgery since the prehistoric era (cavemen performed
brain surgery), we still have a difficult time finding effective ways to close wounds. Wounds
from surgeries account for 31% of all healthcare related infections. About 1.9% of all surgeries
result in infection. Tissues are living and constantly changing. Often, they are moist, flexible,
and occasionally delicate. Dermal adhesives may not be effective for moist tissue. Sutures done
quickly to close a wound can result in blood or bowel leakage, and eventually post surgery
mortality. Staples can cause more damage and are easily infected. These surgical tools have
become common medical practices, being used in over 100,000 surgeries a year.

http://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/PDFs/pscManual/9pscSSIcurrent.pdf

Specific Problem
Staples are often used to close bowel injuries or deep surface injures. They are preferred to
suturing (stitches) in certain instances because a wound needs to be closed tightly (to prevent
deadly leakage) and quickly. Other times, they provide the most strength when closing large

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wounds such as serious head injuries. They are also often used when treating burn injuries to
attach skin grafts. However, surgical staples have some drawbacks as well. Every year, there are
about 8,000 to 9,000 reported problems related to surgical staples, where 90% of these problems
are malfunctions, 9% are injuries, and less than 1% are fatalities. The most frequent problems
include the staples failing to fire or misfiring, creating separated suture lines, or not forming at
all. These problems can lead to bleeding and infection, staples that are stuck in patient tissue,
prolonged surgery, or even anastomosis failure.

http://www.klinespecter.com/Surgical-Staple-injury-lawyer.htm

Goal Statement
Our goal is to create and develop a method that effectively closes/heals a wound without it being
prone to infection, damage or scarring. In addition, we hope that this alternative to both staples
and stitches is adopted into many surgical procedures within the United States and eventually to
the rest of the world.

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References
CDC. (2015, April). Surgical Site (SSI) Event. Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/PDFs/pscManual/9pscSSIcurrent.pdf

Surgical Staples - Complications and Injuries. (n.d.). Retrieved October 7, 2015, from
http://www.klinespecter.com/Surgical-Staple-injury-lawyer.htm

Wound Care Centers. (n.d.). Sutures, Stitches, and Staples. Retrieved from
http://www.woundcarecenters.org/article/wound-therapies/sutures-stitches-and-staples

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